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Fears And Phobias

Flying

Brad Reed helps with the fear of flying (followup at end)

Important Note: This article was written prior to 2010 and is now outdated. Please use my newest advancement, Optimal EFT. It is more efficient, more powerful and clearly explained in my free e-book, The Unseen Therapist™.  Best wishes, Gary

Hi Everyone,

The fear of flying usually responds well to EFT, although the path to relief isn't always the same. Many flying fears simply vanish after one or two rounds of tapping while others require more artistry in order to address the many aspects involved.

Brad Reed describes helping a lady on an airplane with her fear of flying. It isn't an easy one as there appear to be many aspects involved. Nonetheless, Brad keeps at it (as does the client) and worthwhile relief is achieved.

Hugs, Gary


by Brad Reed

Hi Gary,

I just had what I consider to be my first "real" success with teaching EFT to a non family member. It was also a clear case of synchronicity too.

I was scheduled to fly from Portland to San Jose for a meeting. Being tall, (I'm only 5'-17") I stopped by the airport the night before to try for a seat with legroom. I ended up with the bulkhead isle seat.

The next day when I boarded, there was a woman already in my seat. As she was moving into the middle seat, next to her co-worker, she was obviously anxious and made some comment about being very nervous about flying, and wanting to be farther from the window.

Rather than taking the open seat across the aisle, I grinned and told her she was in for a treat! I was going to fix her fear of flying! I sat down, and proceeded to confirm that she was aware of the fact that acupuncture used energy pathways in it's treatments. I went on to explain that I would teach her to tap on those same energy pathways to treat her fear of flying.

GC COMMENT: It's usually a good idea to build a bridge like this between EFT and someone's belief system. It helps with client compliance and keeps them from snickering too loudly (smile). However, when someone is in the middle of a fear response they will often go along with anyone who appears reasonably sincere. "I'll try anything!" is the usual response.

BRAD CONTINUES: We started out by walking through a couple of rounds (leaving out the 9-gamut) on the general fear of flying. I could see she relaxed a little bit and then asked about specific fears. She came up with several issues involved with not being in control, leaving the ground, being so high, etc. At this point I introduced the SUDs [0-10 intensity] scale, and she rated her anxiety at about an 8, down from an obvious 10 in the beginning.

All this time, other passengers had been boarding the plane, and we were continuing to tap on the issues. She even mentioned feeling embarrassed about looking funny tapping with all of the people standing around and walking by. (That issue vanished along with the others during treatment.)

By this time, the aircraft was being pushed back, and her SUDs shot up again. She had the protocol down, and she just started tapping away on the feelings and issues as they came up.

Before long we were lifting off, and again, the SUDs shot up, more tapping and her comfort returned. She would bring herself down to about a 2, and tell herself that she was OK. I'd confirm that it was a 2, and ask her why stop there, wouldn't a zero be better? Back to tapping she'd go.

The takeoff and climb was relatively smooth, so by the time we got to 35,000 feet, she was pretty comfortable. Later in the flight, she commented that she couldn't believe that she was looking out of the window comfortably, given the sheer terror she was expecting to be feeling at that point.

On the way down, we hit some turbulence and she did some more tapping. In the end, she had a very successful flight and was only mildly apprehensive about her return flight the next day. I reminded her that she'd just learned a tool to deal with that, and to tap a bit on the fear of having the fear of flying before she left the next day.

GC COMMENT: This "mild apprehension" could either be (1) evidence of some aspect that wasn't cleared or (2) some self talk about it being "too good to be true", "it won't work next time", etc. The only way to know for sure is to get on the airplane and see what happens. If some form of the fear is still present, then tap away on the remaining aspect.

BRAD CONTINUES: I told her about my personal successes with tapping on fears around some important presentations that I had done, and encouraged her to "try it on everything" as you are so fond of saying. I told her she could pay me back by visiting your web site, learning EFT, and teaching someone else. She immediately knew who she would share it with.

When I asked if she wanted to write down the whole EFT protocol, she did so inside the cover of her book. It was a book about how to overcome the fear of flying. Ironic, eh? The book gave all kinds of good information about the airplane, the sounds, and things that go on during the flight. A nice piece addressing the cognitive mind. Too bad that's the wrong one to address. At least the book ended up with the right information between it's covers!

The woman who was traveling with her was watching this whole process in awe. She said that originally she wasn't looking forward to having to fly with her "white knuckle" friend. Obviously, that was no longer a problem.

They also commented on the synchronicity of the trip. They had been scheduled to fly on an earlier flight that had been delayed several times. In addition, the flight was very full and they were not seated together. When they found out about the flight I was on, and that they could sit together in a bulkhead row, they jumped at the chance. Thus, we met, and the rest, as they say, is history.

(My apologies go out to those on the delayed flight. I guess the price for this synchronistic encounter was paid for by those on the delayed flight. Thank you!)

While I've taught EFT to my kids, and had some limited success with them, this was the first time I really saw it in action in a BIG way with a "stranger".

All my best,

Brad


Two week followup

Hi Everyone,

About two weeks ago Brad Reed reported on helping a woman with a flying phobia. Good headway was made but, in this case, it wasn't complete. She reported back to Brad that things were much better but she still indicated some nervousness. This sort of thing happens, of course, and is indicative of more aspects coming up and yet more to do.

Although I wasn't present during this session, I couldn't help but note that the original EFT'ing was being done WHILE ON THE AIRPLANE. Often this is ideal because it creates an environment for all airplane related aspects to come up. Complete cessation of the problem would be the expected result. The fact that there is still some nervousness left IS INDICATIVE OF SOME ASPECTS THAT HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE AIRPLANE. While I have no way of knowing for sure, I would look for some past events in her life which are mirrored in the airplane experience. A traumatic event, perhaps. Or maybe an event which caused her some feelings of insecurity. Just a guess, of course. A few avenues to pursue.

Here is Brad's follow up message followed by a note from Brett Lowton who gives input regarding energy toxins and blood type.

Hugs, Gary


FROM BRAD REED

Here is a little follow up on the woman who I helped on the airplane a couple weeks ago. Before we left the plane, I gave her one of my business cards and I asked her to Email me with a report on how her return flight went. Below is that report.

"Thanks so much for helping me out with my fear of flying. The flight home was much better. I was still nervous but there were no tears and I was able to enjoy most of the flight. We sat in the last row and the noise was pretty loud so I think that made me more nervous than I would have been had we sat in the bulkhead again. I am thinking of going to Hawaii in September! I imagine that the flight there is beautiful. Thanks again for all your help."

The part of her Email that got me was the "...I was able to enjoy most of the flight." That coming from a woman who the day before was TERRIFIED and in tears about flying. And now she's thinking of flying to Hawaii and expecting beautiful flight! Gee, I guess you just may be right about "cure". ;-) I'm looking forward to getting that postcard from her on the beach in Hawaii.

Thanks,

Brad Reed

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